Says Dr B D Athani, additional director general and medical superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital: 'We get many referrals from other cities and even from private hospitals. We can't refuse any patient despite our constraints.
'We have 6,000 to 7,000 patients visiting the OPD every day while 80-100 deliveries take place each day. Patients are increasing day-by-day.
'Even ICU patients are being referred to us.'
'We are doing our best to treat the patients and accommodate them. We are also working on the plan to start a new emergency block, but this cannot be done overnight. It will take at least two to three years,' Dr Athani said.
Patients, however, complain, they are entitled to at least basic post-operative care.
'I was shifted to the surgery ward but not given a bed. When I protested, doctors said there are no beds available, so I would have to manage on the floor,' Rajkumar said.
Things are worse in the emergency ward, where the patients do their dressing themselves.
The staff of the gynaecology department, which receives 600-odd new cases daily, are also struggling to find ways to manage the rush. 'The gynaecology department has 308 beds.
At times three women have to share one bed,' said a senior doctor of the department.
'The requirement is huge as we perform about 10 major and 15 minor surgeries in a day. Every day there are 40 deliveries of which 12 are caesarean-sections,' she said.
Dr Jagdish Prasad, director general health services in the Union ministry of health and family welfare, admitted to a bed crunch in most wards, including pediatrics, gynaecology and surgery.
'But we can't turn away any patient. So we have to make arrangements on the floor,' he said.
Dr Prasad, who was earlier the hospital's MS, said Safdarjung gets around 2,200 patients as against its capacity of nearly 1,600 beds.
Despite the bleak situation, the hospital has decided to reduce the number of beds to meet the Medical Council of India guidelines, which assign a specific number of beds to a hospital, depending on the departments or the subjects taught in the medical college attached to it.
Dr Prasad said things are set to improve in a few years. 'We have sanctioned the expansion plan.
There is a proposal to establish a new building that will have 800, 500 and 1,300 beds respectively on different floors,' he said.
